Articles

ANN BAILEY: A time to sow, a time to rest

I love gardening. From the exercise involved in planting, weeding and harvesting the fruits and vegetables, to the vitamin-packed produce the garden yields, gardening is a healthful hobby.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Isolated but not cut-off from the world

Ann Bailey writes about how hosting overseas visitors is a learning opportunity.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Good reasons to brave subzero temps

When my dad died in 1996 many people assumed that my mom, then 72, would move into town. Leaving the farm, though, was not in my mom’s plans. Not only did she live on the farm and tend to her own needs, she also was caretaker of her dog, two cats and flock of chickens.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Christmas traditions that live on

Ann Bailey talks about one of her favorite holiday traditions, decorating.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: A time to reflect on absent loved ones

Ann Bailey looks back on lost loved ones and the Christmas season.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Memoirs of a klutz

When I was growing up, it was much to my older brothers’ amusement that my name, “Ann,” meant grace. I was something of a klutz, so they got a big kick out of teasing me about my parents’ misnomer.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Big gatherings a tradition for 100 years

Newspaper reports, which my brothers have found while researching family history, chronicle the times my great-grandparents hosted formal events such as county agricultural tours led by area crops and livestock experts, and impromptu late night parties in which the rugs were rolled up and family and friends danced until the wee hours of the morning.

• Ann Bailey

FACES: Couple asks family, friends to donate to food pantries for 65th wedding anniversary

Russell and Jean Hoverson have everything they need for their home, but they knew that friends and family wanted to give them gifts for their 65th wedding anniversary celebration. So on their anniversary party invitation, the Hoversons asked their family and friends to donate an item for area food pantries.

• Russell and Jean Hoverson
• Faces Russell Hoverson
• Faces Hoverson anniversary
• Faces Russell Hoverson uses a ruler

FACES: Carole Torgerson trains therapy and service dogs

Carole Torgerson’s therapy dogs give the recreational activities at 4000 Valley Square, a golden touch. The owner of Heaven-Sent Golden Retrievers near Euclid, Minn., breeds, raises and trains therapy, service and companion dogs and also shows dogs.

• Carole Torgerson

FACES: Crookston couple enjoys letting others reap what they’ve sown

For Jessica Luckow, picking green beans on a sweltering summer day beats working in an air-conditioned office any day. Luckow has spent hundreds of hours outdoors since May. She and husband Dan own Whitetail Gardens, a community-supported agriculture business near Crookston.

• Fence around Whitetail Gardens
• A tomato
• Green beans
• Picking beans
• Jessica and Dan Luckow

Columns

ANN BAILEY: On the farm, ‘doctoring’ part of the job

One of my primary chores growing up was to check the cattle during the summer months when they were on pasture. It was a job I enjoyed because it involved horseback riding. However, it wasn’t a joy ride because the reason my sister and I checked the cows, calves and bulls was to make sure they were healthy. If we spotted one that looked like it wasn’t feeling well, we herded it up to the corral, where my dad and brother could take a look at it and treat it themselves or call the veterinarian if it was a more serious problem.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Springing ahead, but not too much

A month ago, I thought I might break the record for earliest lawn mowing. The green lawn was showing signs of bolting and I figured it would only be a matter of time before I was back on the seat of the mower. But although there have been a few warm days this month, temperatures generally have been more seasonable and our grass has stayed pretty short.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: New life is springing up on the farm

One of my favorite times of the year growing up on the farm is spring. Not only are there signs of new life all around me in the form of greened-up grass, budding trees and blooming flowers, there also are young animals on and around the farm to remind me of the renewal.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Flock provides farm-fresh eggs at a small price

Last summer, our small chicken flock of 21 chickens grew by 10, courtesy of a couple of friends who needed a home for their hens. The flock of 30 chickens and one rooster wintered well and even made history by going outside on Christmas Day. My husband, Brian, took a picture to record the event and our family talked about how delighted my mom would have been to see her chickens scratching in the dirt on Dec. 25.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Easter is a good time to count one’s blessings

Today, Easter Sunday, ushers in a week of blessings for me. The most extraordinary blessing for which I am grateful is the gift of Jesus’ resurrection. As a Christian, I believe that his resurrection after death on the cross freed us from sin and opened the gates of heaven.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Spring has arrived right on time

As a North Dakotan, I’m accustomed to hearing about spring arriving in other parts of the country long before it has sprung here. As I looked out of my kitchen window into a front yard knee-deep in snow, I could only imagine what it must be like to have trees leafing out and flowers poking up out of the ground.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Rain is good, in manageable doses

“When it rains, it pours.” There are times in my life when that old saying has been true figuratively and other times, literally. This past week, I was reminded of it the literal sense.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Gardening catalogs sow seeds of spring planting

What a beautiful week of weather. A week before the official start of spring, it felt more like spring than it did in May last year. If North Dakota history repeats itself, we’re likely to get some snow before spring really arrives — and stays. As I told my children, we really can’t count on being snow-free until mid-May. However, that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the great weather we’re having now. If snow does hit the ground during the next several weeks, it quickly will melt, and then we can say we had a short winter.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Dealing with livestock is not without its perils

Considering how many years I’ve worked with livestock, my injuries have been pretty minor. In fact, in 50 years of being around cows, horses or both, there has been only one livestock-related trip to the doctor’s office and that wasn’t the direct result of an encounter with livestock, but instead a clumsy move on my part when I was feeding the horses.

• Ann Bailey

ANN BAILEY: Cooking, chemistry have a lot in common

Back when I was in college, a friend, upon hearing that I struggled with chemistry class, told me she found that surprising because I was a good cook, and cooking was a form of chemistry.

• Ann Bailey